Cloud spent 10 days in the Lifestream before being washed up at Mideel. When the others found him, the doctor said this:

Doctor "I'll say it again, he's got Mako poisoning. I've never seen a case this bad..." "An immense amount of Mako-drenched knowledge was put into his brain all at once......" "No normal human could have survived it...... It's a miracle he did!"

Cloud absorbed an immense amount of Mako-drenched knowledge while in the Lifestream. What are the effects of that? Look at what Sephiroth told us in the Temple of Ancients:

Sephiroth "I'm far superior to the Ancients." "I became a traveler of the Lifestream and gained the knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients." "I also gained the knowledge and wisdom of those after the extinction of the Ancients." "And soon, I will create the future."

Sephiroth was also in the Lifestream as he drifted from Mt. Nibel to the Northern Crater. During that time, Sephiroth gained the knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients. Wouldn't the same happen to Cloud?

If Cloud gained the knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients while in the Lifestream, would it help him find the Promised Land? Did absorbing the knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients also make it easier for Cloud to communicate with Aerith's spirit? :unsure:

I've always wondered about this. Why ONLY Cloud ( excluding the children ) who was able to sense Aerith. He also seemed to know how everything worked, plus I had the feeling that he was strangely more confident and that was AFTER the Lifestream thing. I'm bad at explaining, and only repeating *sigh* .. Has anyone given a thought of Cloud being some Sephiroth-in-disguise thing? Not that he is a super bad villain or anything, but you know, he might just be have this hidden power they never showed us in the game. Yeah, ignore my random babbling. Because not just *everyone* can survive through that, and Cloud is definately *everyone*.

But that's a very good point you have there Anastar. =D

YOU ARE RIGHT...AND IF TIFA TALK TO THE TWO MEN WHO ARE YALKING ABOUT CLOUD ONE HE WILL SAY: IT IS A MIRACLE THAT HE HAVE SURVIVED...HE MUST HAVE AN GUARDIAN ANGEL WHO PROTECT HIM....
I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS AERIS! ;)

But wasn't Tifa in the Lifestream too after Mideel got destroyed? Why is it that it didn't seem to effect her even if she wasn't there very long? You'd think even after a little while it would effect her. Do you think it was because she was only focused on Cloud and didn't allow everything else in, or was it simply too little time? Perhaps you only absorb the knowledge if you allow it to be absorbed. Sorry if I'm rambling, I've just never thought about that before.

Cloud was in it for a WAY longer time. Since when... After he gives Sephiroth the black materia and the weapons wake up. Until he's found washed up by Mideel which could be slightly before or after Tifa wakes up from her coma for a week. So yeah... I think he has had a much longer exposure to the lifestream.

I need to play that part again. Even though I've played through the game more times than I can count. :blink:

Edit: Yeah, Anastar said this...

Much longer than Tifa and Cloud spent in the lifestream at the same time.

Exactly... so Cloud spent about as much time in the Lifestream as Sephiroth did. Actually, I just re-read the script and it doesn't say exactly how long Cloud was in the Lifestream. The doctor only says this:

"Mako poisoning...... Quite an advanced case......" "It appears this young man's been exposed to a high level of Mako energy for a protracted period of time."

I think 10 days was an approximation I got when we were looking into this at GameFaqs. :huh: At any rate, if Cloud drifted in the Lifestream from the Northern Crater to Mideel, he spent a long time in it. Sephiroth drifted in the Lifestream from Mt. Nibel to the Northern Crater, so Cloud and Sephiroth spent about the same length of time in it. In comparison, Cloud and Tifa were in the Lifestream together for about an hour or so. The doctor also said this about Cloud:

"I'll say it again, he's got Mako poisoning. I've never seen a case this bad..." "An immense amount of Mako-drenched knowledge was put into his brain all at once......" "No normal human could have survived it...... It's a miracle he did!"

So it was apparently the Jenova cells in Cloud that kept him alive. Sephiroth also had Jenova cells in him, and Sephiroth also drifted in the Lifestream for a protracted period of time. An immense amount of Mako-drenched knowledge was put into both of their brains all at once. Sephiroth verifies that in the Temple of Ancients.

So what does that mean for Cloud? Will he be better able to communicate with Aerith and/or find the Promised Land because of this? :unsure:

Mmmm... I think Cloud can communicate with Aeris because it´s an option of the planet... Like a type of favouritism for Cloud ^^UU. At the end of FVII , Cloud says to Tifa: "I think I´m beginning to understand... An answer for the planet... The Promised Land... I think I can meet her... there" ... Maybe it´s a reward because Cloud has saved "him"... And in my opinion Cloud will can meet Aeris in the Promised Land thanks to the planet...